So We Meet Again

 I walked into the area where all the donkeys were milling around and spotted the fellow who had given me the advice. I went over to thank him for helping but before I could get there, another donkey pushed in front of me. “Excuse me!” I said, peeved, “I was going over there, if you don’t mind!”

“I do mind. You aren’t supposed to go to him, you’re supposed to come to me!”

“I was just going to thank him for giving me some advice,” I said, “not try to elope with him!”

“Doesn’t matter. I was about to give you the same advice, but he spoke up first. He’s always doing stuff like that. It annoys all of us.” Another nearby donkey nodded and a third added, “I’ll say!”

“Any way, you’re supposed to come with me. We’re buddies for this journey, you and me!”

I took another look at the donkey who was insisting that we were partners. It was George, my old friend who had accompanied me on an adventure some while back.

“Well, hello George-ous!” I said happily, and gave him a big hug. “So we meet again!”

“Ha, ha, very funny. Flattery will get you a nice bumpy donkey ride!” he answered. “Now, if you’re done being flippant and making bad jokes, let me look at you and see if you’re ready for the trip.”

I stood back and spun around slowly for him to inspect me. “Well, will I do?”

The donkey looked at me and sniffed. “Great,” he said, “just dandy!”

“What?” I said, looking down at myself. I was wearing my hiking boots, a pair of new jeans and a very bright tie-died t-shirt. There was a hand knit wool sweater in my favorite shade of blue tied around my waist and a straw hat on my head. My backpack was by my feet and it was well stuffed as usual. I really couldn’t figure out what the donkey was talking about.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked, “Like leaving those things in the surrender box?”

“I did leave stuff in the surrender box! A whole bunch of stuff!”

“Then what’s that in your back pocket there? It sure looks like something that needs to go in the surrender box to me!”

I checked my back pocket. There was indeed something trying to burrow deeply into it. “Arrgh! I just put this stuff in the box! What is going on here?! Someone else even put stuff on top of it so it couldn’t crawl out again! Doggone it!” I started pulling things out of my back pocket. Fears, self- doubt and procrastination had all found me again. I grabbed them and stomped back over to the surrender box and crammed them back in unceremoniously. I added my apathy for good measure. “And stay there!” I added. I stomped back over to George and presented myself again. “Better?” I asked.

“Yep, that’s better. Did you try out those wings yet?”

“What wings?”

“The ones in the bag Enchanteur gave you.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Look in the bag sitting there beside your back pack.”

I opened my mouth to say “What bag?” and then closed it without saying anything and just looked down. It rarely paid to argue with George. He was right far too much of the time and he knew it.

There was a blue silk bag right there beside my pack. I could have sworn it wasn’t there before. I picked it up and opened it. Wings, sure enough, and a package of dream seeds (those should prove to be an adventure) and some odd looking spectacles, a miniature anchor, a tiny medallion of a unicorn and last but not least a candle. I fished out the wings and tried them on.

The next thing I knew I was face down in the dirt with a new scrape on my elbow.

“Ouch! These things are not safe!” I said.

“Nope, probably not,” replied the donkey, “but most of the things that are worth while in life aren’t. You know, friendship, love, trying to accomplish things, putting bits of yourself on the line to do something new…It’s all risky. So is riding your bike on the streets, but you do that almost every day, too, don’t you?”

I nodded and sighed and got up. “So, let’s try this again, then.” This time I scraped the other elbow and bruised my knee. I grumbled under my breath and got up yet again. Several tries later, I had the hang of the wings, and they were actually starting to be fun.

As soon as I was starting to enjoy the wings, my donkey said, “Okay, you’ve got it. Now let’s get this show on the road!”

I didn’t argue. I already knew that it was pointless. I replied, “Fine. Spoil my fun,” and stuck out my tongue at him.

“You’re sure the smarty-pants today aren’t you?” he said.

“Yeah, but at least I’m not a wise…”

George interrupted me quickly, “Don’t finish that phrase unless you want a really bumpy donkey ride!” Then he brayed a laugh.

I put the wings away and put the bag around my neck, strapped my pack to his rump and climbed aboard.

She Wolf (c) 2007